Tag Archives: social media strategy

How to Use Social Media to Grow Your Small Business

Blog, Social Media Marketing,

 

Social media is a vital tool used to connect your small business to the world. When the Pew Research Center began tracking social media usage in 2005, only 5% of Americans participated in one of the platforms. In their latest 2019 poll, 72% of the American population reported using social media at least once a day – making it an essential part of the promotion for a business. In addition to connecting with your existing customers, social media is the best way to expand your reach and grow your consumer base.

While diving into the world of social media to promote your small business can seem intimidating, there are many tools and resources to help small business owners get started. Here are some of the best tips for using social media to grow your small business:

Create a Social Media Strategy

While it might be tempting to just create an account and start posting, the best way is to establish a social media strategy unique to your brand. With a plan in place, you can set clear goals and objectives and measure your progress.

Before creating content, research similar businesses and compare their tactics to your objectives in order to determine what you like and dislike. Without copying anyone else, you can use this information to create your own social media marketing plan.

This plan may include:

  • Social media goals and objectives: Using specific measurements to track your progress is a great way to determine the impact on your business. The most effective goals follow the SMART framework, which means they are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. Determine the goals that will help grow your business, for example, focusing on engagement rates instead of the number of likes.
  • Social media audit: If you already have accounts created, before looking at ways to improve your social media presence, it is important to evaluate the current situation, both what has been successful and what needs help.
  • Social media calendar: A calendar is a great way to organize all of the content that you want to share with your followers, mapping out the right time and the right platform to post on.

Define Your Target Audience and Expand

When using social media, it is often more effective to concentrate your efforts to reach certain audiences as opposed to creating content for the general public. To do this, start by evaluating your current customers. Then, with analytics you can delve deeper into these demographics, trying to figure out common patterns within this customer base. By micro-targeting your audience, you can create content based directly on their ages and interests.

Once you are able to define your target audience, it is time to expand your consumers by finding similar customers. For example, when trying to expand to a new market, you can mirror the traits of your current customers to find new people who will also connect to your brand.

Decide Which Platforms are Best for You

Depending on the age and habits of your target audience, you might want to focus more or less on certain platforms. For example, the average age of users on Facebook is 25-29, while the average age for Instagram users is 18-24. Gender can also play a factor in social media demographics. For example, women outnumber men on platforms like Instagram, with 43% of women using the app compared to only 31% of men. But for YouTube, 78% of men regularly watch videos compared to only 68% of women.

In addition to demographics, the platforms can serve different purposes based on your goals. According to an article from eMarketer, Facebook is a more effective tool for customer acquisition and to increase your overall scale, while Instagram is more successful for e-commerce and purchases.

The Power of Social Media for Your Business

In the early stages of growing your business, be mindful of what strategies are working and what is not working. No matter the scale of your business, social media tools can help you connect and build relationships with your audience, increase your reach, and build a successful brand.

Are you looking to establish a social media strategy or build upon a current one? At Big Customer Network, we have seen impressive results with research and strategy. Contact us today to learn more.

Building a Killer Social Media Marketing Strategy for 2020

Social Media Marketing, ,

An astounding 3.2 billion people are active users on social media each day. Yes, billion. So, what is your company doing about it? Does your marketing plan account for the massive reach of social media? Is your content engaging enough to be shared across social platforms? What emphasis is being placed on the prospect of generating new leads through social media?

Do those questions feel more like an interrogation than a simple marketing conversation? If so, your organization may be lacking a social media presence and, in turn, missing a huge opportunity to grow your business. The main players in the social media arena today are:

  1. Facebook
  2. Twitter
  3. Instagram
  4. YouTube
  5. LinkedIn

Some companies are active on all five platforms, some are dominating just a few. Both the industry and target market will largely dictate what makes the most sense for your specific business. Regardless, simply being present on these platforms is not enough. In fact, being active on these platforms is not enough. To truly succeed in social media marketing, your company must work within a meticulous, researched strategy.

Today, we breakdown what it takes to make an impact on social media and the steps that need to be taken to get your company there.

Social Media Marketing Strategy to Reach Your Target Market

There is no question that your competition is looking at social media to gain customers. In 2020, social media is going to expand to become an even larger giant than it is today. With the year coming to an end soon, it is imperative that your marketing plan accounts for social media’s role in client acquisition, client retention, and brand building.

It is easy to assume that big brands posting about silly things like “National Pet Your Dog Day” are using social media to be…well, social. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Companies doing social media marketing the right way are thinking about every single post, share, and reply. Strategy lays the foundation for success.

Engaging current customers, generating new leads, and making sure that your brand feels relatable and knowledgeable is essential. As you sit down to formulate your company’s social media marketing strategy for 2020, follow these steps:

  1. Start with goals. This may seem obvious, but far too many organizations start a full-fledged marketing plan without even considering what they hope to achieve. Incorporate the “SMART” method to ensure that your goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound.
  2. Who are your ideal customers? Defining a target market is important for all marketing initiatives, but with social media it is critical. Targeting on social based on demographics, interest, and even geographic location makes it easy to reach the right audience.
  3. Take a look at what your competition is doing on social. You can learn a lot of actionable lessons from a competitive analysis. Plus, this is also a great way to learn what not to do to successfully engage with your audience.
  4. Evaluate how well you are currently doing. Auditing your own social media presence is important too. This will reveal what you are doing well and should continue to capitalize on and what needs work. The areas where work is required means evaluating whether to abandon that strategy or platform altogether or to improve upon your current efforts.
  5. Carefully determine what social media platforms do and do not make sense for your industry and audience. Understand that your content must cater to those platforms specifically. So, if you do not have the means to master all of them, choose the two platforms where your target audience spends the most time.
  6. Create a content calendar. Planning for holidays, big sales or promotions, and other relevant events means thinking through the best ways to maximize your posts in advance. A last-minute social media post is not only obvious to your target market but will drastically reduce the likelihood of its success.
  7. Get inspired by big brands doing it right. There is no better place for inspiration than on the social media accounts of companies with big customer engagement. Find a few top brands, ideally in your industry, and take note of what, how, and why they do what they do.
  8. Measure, measure, measure. The beauty of social media is that everything is trackable. Take advantage of this by constantly testing and evaluating. Adjust your strategy accordingly, and then repeat the process again.

Mapping out a social media marketing strategy is a time-consuming task. However, when done correctly, it can serve to open the door to an entirely new set of prospects and a new, exciting way to engage with current customers. Companies that execute a social media marketing strategy using the above steps will position themselves for big wins in 2020.

Are you looking for guidance for your digital marketing strategy? Could your company benefit from a social media expert? Contact Big Customer Network today for more information!